Thanksgiving -- more than anything else -- is a time to take stock of the good things we have in our lives, particularly those things that we don't take the time to notice every day. The world can be a savage place -- particularly in places like Iraq, torn apart by religious sectarianism and US imperialism -- and life can be cruel, but all of us are probably have a few things that stand above all others as the most important.
I'm thankful for many things. I'm thankful the Republican hold on the House and Senate was broken -- and in spectacular fashion -- just in time for this Thanksgiving. I have the best health and physical strength a 42-year-old woman could possibly hope for, and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that I can still, at this age, be the only female on the field in the touch football games my boyfriend and his crowd organize, and still kick everybody's butt. I have a job and career I love. I love my house. I even have a car that I love, even if the heater doesn't really work and the radio is AM-only.
But the things I'm MOST thankful for are the people. I have a wonderful daughter who will be seven beautiful months old this Friday, and she is happy and healthy and will surely leave her mark on this world. I am thankful for my kind, affectionate, loving, wise boyfriend -- the best companion a girl could hope for. And I am thankful for the growing bulge in my belly that will become a brother or sister for my daughter this spring, and I am thankful that this pregnancy is shaping up as well as it is, hardly a given at my age. (I'm NOT thankful for the fucking morning sickness I've been plagued with this time around!!) I am thankful for all the great friends that have always been there for me. And I am thankful for our extended family, particularly my boyfriend's parents and brother and sister -- I was an only child and my parents are long gone, so they are the only family I have, and they have always welcomed me as one of their own.
I hope everyone here has a few special thanksgivings to make this Thanksgiving holiday. If so, please feel free to share.